Category — Author: Public Outreach

As the seasons change, we begin unpacking boxes of coats, sweaters, scarves, and boots in preparation. However, this seasonal routine is not easy for survivors like Claudia*. When Claudia came to the United States a few years ago, she came with very few possessions and was forced to work in the hospitality industry. Luckily, she was able to get out of her trafficking situation and was put in contact with a Polaris Project case manager. Our staff was able to place both her and her child in a transitional housing unit and provide them with the services they needed. [Read more →]

Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg

October 18, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.

30 victims, held in debt bondage. Sexual and physical violence used to force them to work long hours at very little or no pay. You may think that you would never come across this type of crime, but in Pennsylvania, these 30 labor trafficking victims were working in plain sight at stores like Walmart, Kmart, Safeway, and Target. These stores hired contractors to clean, and were unaware of the horrific conditions that their cleaners were working under. This is just one of many human trafficking situations that have emerged out of Pennsylvania in recent years, and a reason why PA Senator Daylin Leach yesterday hosted a press conference in the Harrisburg Capitol Rotunda calling for legislation that requires the posting of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline number.

[Read more →]

Join Polaris Project for the third annual Stop Modern Slavery Walk on the National Mall Constitution Gardens (Constitution Avenue NW and 19th St. NW, Washington, D.C.)
 On Saturday, October 22, 2011 (8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) thousands of activists from the D.C. metropolitan area will walk together to stomp out slavery! There will be an information fair, guest speakers, and live musical performances.

As one of the few annual events centered around human trafficking in the D.C. metropolitan area, the Stop Modern Slavery walk is a great opportunity to stand united with the anti-trafficking community against modern-day slavery. Individuals that choose to participate at the walk can share their experience with the world live from the walk by contributing to the #smswalk tag on Twitter. We hope to see you there, so grab some friends and sign up for the Polaris Project team today!

Here are 3 things you can do to spread the word about the upcoming walk:

1. Share this blog with your friends!
2. Tweet about the walk on twitter – don’t forget to use #smswalk in your tweet! Here’s a sample:
   Join @Polaris_Project and @DCSMS for the 2011 #smswalk! Sign up today: http://ht.ly/64sl
3. Talk about it on Facebook! Here’s some sample text
   Do you know that slavery still exists? Join me at the 2011 Stop Modern Slavery Walk and help stomp out slavery! I’ll be walking with the Polaris Project team. Will you join me? http://ht.ly/64slS

We hope to see you there.

Part I of this two-part blog series discussed three websites that can help you be a socially responsible consumer. Here are three more sites that sell goods made by survivors of human trafficking or that use fashion as a way to educate the public about human trafficking. [Read more →]

Through the creation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the U.S. positioned itself as a leader in the global fight against human trafficking. This significant piece of legislation made human trafficking a federal crime, formed agencies and task forces to address human trafficking domestically and internationally, defined the strict penalties human traffickers face, created the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, and initiated various measures to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute traffickers. Since its original passage, the bill has been reauthorized three times, each time reaffirming our nation’s commitment to eliminating modern-day slavery and strengthening our ability to fight it.

The 2011 TVPRA has been introduced in the Senate by a bi-partisan coalition made up of Senators Leahy (VT), Boxer (CA), Brown (MA), Cardin (MD), Cochran (MS), Feinstein (CA), Gillibrand (NY), Kerry (MA), Rubio (FL), and Wyden (OR). However, we need to build momentum to ensure the bill gets passed. [Read more →]

Australia is a destination country for many people. With picturesque stretches of coast and idyllic outback scenery, there are many tourists who want to come to Australia to enjoy all that it has to offer. Unfortunately, Australia is also a destination for a different type of visitor – human trafficking victims. As Polaris Project’s only current Australian fellow, human trafficking in the Oceania region is of particular interest to me.

[Read more →]

As consumers we face countless choices for the goods and services we can buy. However, for socially conscious consumers who are aware of the frequent intersections between human trafficking and corporate supply chains, there is the added desire of purchasing goods that are socially responsible. But how do we really know how things are produced? [Read more →]

In 2000, the UN passed the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, also known as the Palermo Protocol. Among other things, the Protocol recognizes that criminalizing alone will not lead to the elimination of human trafficking and that prevention efforts are necessary. State action does not end at the prosecution and incarceration of a trafficker; governments must provide victims with the support and services they need to re-integrate them into society.

The 2011 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report brings about an important question:
How can governments effectively address victim protection in cases of human trafficking? [Read more →]

This year’s TIP Report includes country narratives on 184 countries, featuring seven new profiles on Aruba, Curacao, Marshall Islands, St. Lucia, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, and Tonga. One of the most notable components of the TIP Report is the tier placements, and of course everyone wants to know how their country measured up this year. The 2011 TIP Report boasts upgrades for 23 countries and demotions for 22 countries, a quasi-equilibrium in shifts. But what does this re-shuffling mean? [Read more →]

The release of the TIP Report highlights the necessity of passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). On June 29, 2011, Senators Leahy, Kerry, and Brown introduced the 2011 TVPRA bill, building on the momentum of the TIP Report release a few days earlier. [Read more →]